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The Power of Employee Referrals

Tapping into the tremendous advantage of employee referrals can ultimately translate into a successful hire, yielding high results in the long run.

Job seekers first go to their network for potential job leads. Keeping current employees in the loop allows them the opportunity to actively search for someone that would be a good fit for the open position. This is also advantageous when searching for a specialized role as the employee may have referrals outside of the particular job industry.

Time is money and hiring a referred candidate requires less money and time than a traditional candidate. The process and costs of creating a job post, waiting for applicable resumes and scanning for potential hires are tedious and can lead to potentially poor results. However, only an interview is needed for a referred candidate.

Having a familiar contact in the business will also make the onboarding process a lot faster. The advantage of having someone the new candidate can trust and turn to with questions will allow them to acclimate to the culture a lot faster than others who need time to adjust and find their peer confidant.

Both the referred candidate and employee who successfully referred the candidate will be more inclined to stay in their respective positions longer. Because there is pressure on the achievement of a referred candidate for the current employee, the quality of referrals is greater than those found through traditional means. Once the referred candidate is successfully brought on, the current employee feels better with a greater sense of trust for the organization since they are a part of the company’s growing future.

While employee referrals remain to be one of the most successful ways to hire, it is not a system that can be based on just word-of-mouth communication. A specific process must be established for employees or external connections to provide candidate leads. Ask for referrals and leave the door open for potentials – while you may not be currently hiring, it’s nice to continuously add to the talent pipeline.